QUALCOMM SITE STILL AN OPTION FOR BRAND NEW STADIUM

Chargers at Jaguars

The drawing board for a new stadium in Mission Valley never was taken down. So the Chargers are going back to it.

It was 11 years ago, when the housing market was a place to shop, that the football franchise proposed building a new stadium, surrounded by condos and retail space, for a portion of the 166-acre Qualcomm Stadium site. City Hallians, with the vision of a one-eyed bat and the spine of a sponge, nixed the plan — for a variety of reasons, not one making sense.

They may be hearing about it again from the Chargers, who are nothing if not persistent in their new stadium quest. A small portion of Mission Valley once again is in play for something other than fuel tanks.

Background:

Shortly after 2002, when the economy and housing went kaput, the NFL franchise knew the plan wasn’t fiscally feasible and made a U-turn, seeking a new soft-roofed, multipurpose stadium in the East Village. It not only could bring major sporting events such as the Super Bowl and Final Four into town, but also serve as huge additional space for the nearby Convention Center.

Of course (see: vision and spine), the original center wasn’t built big enough in the first place, and visionaries botched it again when they built the addition too small.

Now they want to build more contiguous space next to the current facility on the harbor, and the Chargers countered with their project, which could serve the conventioneers (more toward downtown and away from the bay to better cater to nearby businesses) and create far fewer traffic and scenic problems.

The Chargers argued their case when the Coastal Commission took up the topic last week, but despite a staff recommendation that the facility wouldn’t fly, the commissioners approved it anyway. For the moment, this has left the Chargers ship up on the ways, leaving me to wonder: Why pay a staff to do all the work if you’re not going to listen?

That idea could be tied up in court for a while and the Chargers were aware all along what they were proposing downtown never would be a slam dunk. They also realize they aren’t going to know much of anything until San Diego gets a new mayor, probably in February, during an annual period (Feb. 1-April 30) in which the team can slip out of its lease and out of town if it so desires.

Can’t see that happening soon. It has nowhere to go. At the moment and probably for quite some time, the idea of L.A. as a rich alternative is buried in Forest Lawn.

“The Qualcomm site drawing board always was there,” says Mark Fabiani, the Chargers’ point man on a new stadium. “Now that the economic and housing issues have improved, redeveloping the Qualcomm site is something we’re discussing with our development partner (Colony Capital) as something of interest. A major international company, which I can’t name now, also is interested in partnering with us for stadium naming rights. The site is perfect for private development, for building an urban village.”